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Among the more important -- and yet possibly more overlooked -- factors contributing to the success of Norv Turner's downfield passing game is its ability to open up space for receivers after the catch. Turner's attack relies on spacing much in the manner that a basketball team does, opening up room horizontally by spreading the field vertically. That creates opportunities for receivers on underneath routes, and it also allows those receivers to gain big chunks of yardage by catching the ball in space and getting past a defender or two.

While Turner was the San Diego Chargers' coach from 2007-12, his teams gained 10,848 yards after the catch. The Chargers' average of 5.44 yards after the catch was the third-best in the league during that time, according to ESPN Stats and Information. Running backs like LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles drove that part of the Chargers' offense, of course, and the Vikings want to use Adrian Peterson and rookie running back Jerick McKinnon for a similar purpose. If it works, it'll restore an element of the Vikings' passing attack that went missing when Percy Harvin departed for Seattle.

Bring on that YAC!

Teddy distributes to the slot WRs very well. It's where he's at his best, using his timing, accuracy, and ability to pick apart the lanes/soft spots in zone and exploit quick mismatches vs. the blitz.

I've always been a fan of spread em' out to pass and run it down their throats. A power back in a spread offense can be so effective.

Id be interested in seeing Patterson in the slot with Jennings, Simpson and Wright pushing down field. Patterson with the ball in his hands in space is potent.

Teddy and Jennings are going to make music this year if Greg plays the slot primarily. I like the threat of Patterson on the outside making defenses stretch and moving him to the slot for specific route combos designed to get him the ball as the primary read.

Teddy Bridgewater said he met Turner “multiple times’’ when the first-year Vikings coordinator was looking at what they might do at quarterback for last month’s draft. Perhaps the most significant time was April 12 in Bridgewater’s native South Florida. Turner joined Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman and quarterbacks coach Scott Turner, Norv’s son, in watching Bridgewater work out individually. That turned out to be a key day that led to the Vikings making a trade for a second first-round pick and drafting Bridgewater with the No. 32 selection out of Louisville.

Bridgewater: “My relationship with Norv, it’s a pretty unique relationship. It started back in the pre-draft process. He would visit multiple times. He’s a great coach. It’s somebody who wants the best out of every quarterback on the roster. The relationship we have right now is just a great relationship.’’

“He’s one of the best coaches in the game right now, an offensive mastermind.

The Vikings are hoping for big things from tight end Kyle Rudolph this season. But if Norv Turner’s offense is anything like it was last season, the Vikings will need another tight end to step up, too.­­ Last season, with Turner calling the plays, the Browns used their 12 personnel -- one running back, two tight ends and two wide receivers -- on 36.9 percent of their offensive plays, according to guys over at Pro Football Focus. That was the second-highest percentage in the NFL.

The Vikings, meanwhile, used their 12 personnel on just 10.7 percent of their offensive plays last season, which ranked 29th in the league. Instead, they preferred two-back sets, using their 21 personnel -- two backs, two tight ends and two wide receivers -- 24.1 percent of the time.

The Vikings are hoping for big things from tight end Kyle Rudolph this season. But if Norv Turner’s offense is anything like it was last season, the Vikings will need another tight end to step up, too.­­ Last season, with Turner calling the plays, the Browns used their 12 personnel -- one running back, two tight ends and two wide receivers -- on 36.9 percent of their offensive plays, according to guys over at Pro Football Focus. That was the second-highest percentage in the NFL.

The Vikings, meanwhile, used their 12 personnel on just 10.7 percent of their offensive plays last season, which ranked 29th in the league. Instead, they preferred two-back sets, using their 21 personnel -- two backs, two tight ends and two wide receivers -- 24.1 percent of the time.

An interesting thing to note, our QBs will likely no longer be using the wrist coaches (as seen on Cassel's arm in pic below) to receive play calls from the sideline and relay them in the huddle. Norv's play calling system doesn't make use of them.

We'll get a better idea during training camp about whether Turner's offense will have some different wrinkles -- I certainly wouldn't expect the Vikings to start running read-option plays -- but two things he mentioned on Wednesday were a desire to spread the field a little more often and using a no-huddle offense, which would represent a change from the way Turner has operated in the past. The Vikings have also been working with some packaged plays, giving their quarterbacks more control at the line of scrimmage to check out of one look and into another than they had in the team's previous system.

Highlights:
-- "Teddy should've gone in the first 10 picks"
-- "We have enough talent across the board... that we can take a little attention away from Adrian, and give him a chance to make more plays, give him some room... If people continue to crowd the box and overplay our running game with Adrian, we do have some guys who can make explosive plays"
-- "It's been fun to get with Cordarrelle Patterson, he's really improved as a route runner, he can be as good as he wants to be"
-- WRs discussed in this order: Patterson, Jennings, Simpson, Wright, Thielen
-- "The guy who's come on really strong is Adam Thielen, he's had a great off season"
--"I really think [Rudolph] has improved his quickness, he's spent a lot of time this spring working on his route running"
-- TEs discussed in this order: Rudolph, Ford, Leonard, Reisner (not Ellison)

Lots of video highlights. Rudolph does look fast. Teddy does look good. Patterson is ridiculous, check out the extension on this catch:

I could see Rhett Ellison being looked at as FB to compete with Jerome Felton. Ellison can be a lead blocker, which is something that Turner doesnt use much. Felton offers nothing at TE. Ellison can be a blocking TE and FB. Getting rid of Felton increases the chances that Leonard makes the team._________________

I could see Rhett Ellison being looked at as FB to compete with Jerome Felton. Ellison can be a lead blocker, which is something that Turner doesnt use much. Felton offers nothing at TE. Ellison can be a blocking TE and FB. Getting rid of Felton increases the chances that Leonard makes the team.

Yep, we have been talking about this for a while VR.

Felton is a very good FB, but with Ellison's ability, is he worth the contract and roster spot?

Arif defends Norv against Mike Tanier's backhanded praise in the Football Outsiders Almanac.

Interesting details:

-- QuantCoach put the Vikings 26th in the league in 2013 for coaching productivity

-- The 2013 Vikings were the worst team in Football Outsiders history (dating back to 1989) on 2nd and short

-- Norv has been successful in getting good performances out of young and/or struggling QBs and in improving average-to-terrible offenses:

Quote:

On average, as an offensive coordinator, teams did far worse in the years preceding the arrival of Norv Turner and the year after he left. In offensive DVOA, the average rank of teams that hired him as a coordinator was 24th. With him, it was 12th. The average change in DVOA is by 22 percentage points, or the difference between the Philadelphia Eagles offense and a league average one, like Cincinnati, Tennessee or Kansas City. It would take the 21st-ranked Vikings into territory generally reserved for elite offenses, like the fourth-ranked Patriots or fifth-ranked Saints.

^^ Film breakdown of Rudolph's catches in preseason shows how Turner uses route combinations to create space for his TE.

He's going to be very hard to defend in this offense. Think we'll see a lot fewer 8-man boxes and run blitzes if they're able to consistently get Rudolph the ball in the intermediate zones.

If you think about it, that sort of intermediate receiving threat is actually a bigger problem for defenses who have to respect the run than sideline go routes -- LBs playing downhill have nothing much to do with 30 yard deep throws but the threat of 15 yarders in the middle of the field off play action will force them to make some tough choices.